Business Accounting

BookSmart Accountants Cranbourne has ample of experience in providing business advice to all businesses in Cranbourne and beyond; no matter how big or small your business is. We are professionals working at BookSmart Accountants and assure our clients of the high quality accounting guidance to tradies, small and big businesses, freelancers, new entrepreneurs etc.

The most common question we have been asked is ‘How to Structure Businesses?’

It is very common in businesses that when you start your own business and still at establishing stage you start as a sole trader. There is nothing wrong with starting a sole trader business. It’s easy to start with when your business is at a small scale but as you grow your business it might be an option for you review the structure.

If something goes wrong in your business or with your client, as a sole trader you don’t have a lot of protection. It means that it’s not just your business on stake but your personal assets as well such as you house, your office, your car etc. However, a registered company structure provides you a shield except in certain circumstances such as insolvent trading.

Your business as a company becomes a separate entity from you, thus providing you with a corporate shield.A company structure might also provide you with better tax planning strategies compared to sole trader option.

It does cost a little more to get a company started as compared to the sole trader. But there are pretty strong chances that it will cost you less than you will pay in case of a bad law suit. So talk to a professional Cranbourne Accountant to discuss your business in detail.

It is not essential that you have to immediately become a company, no not at all please come at talk to us and we will provide you the right advice after discussing your personal business, financials, prospects etc. Take a look at our Cranbourne Accountant services or contact us at 1300 300 106 to talk to our professionals.

Business owners who employ other people are required by law to provide payment summaries by 14th July 2015 to their employees. The payment summary shows the payments made to the employees including any allowances, fringe benefits etc. and the total tax withheld during the year.

Even in the circumstances you did not withhold any tax, businesses are still required to issue payment summaries.

If any of the details on the payment summary are incorrect, you will need to issue with an amended payment summary.

Payment summaries can be provided electronically or via paper forms either from your software or ATO forms.

Before issuing the payment summaries, please ensure you reconcile the payroll and wages accounts to avoid any discrepancies.

If you are not sure about how to reconcile the payroll accounts or issue payment summaries, contact one of our expert Cranbourne tax accountants at 1300 300 106 to get some help.

As a tax agent we regularly come accross cleints who run a profitable business but dont have good cash flow. Cash flow can have a huge impact on the business growth. It is the amount of money that’s being transferred in and out of a business that largely impacts its liquidity. Cash flow is also the root of a business’ success that can be more important than employees, revenues, mission statements or websites.

Without cash, there is no business. Therefore, in order to increase cash flow in YOUR business, we have come up with the following tips:

Invest in your business: Any steps that you take to build on your business will prove to be helpful in the long run. These can include training staff, widening the marketing plan or investing in products that increase the business appeal.

Speed up receipt of cash: Logically speaking, shortening receivables is bound to increase cash flow. So, send out invoices immediately after goods have been delivered, or change your current payment terms from, say, 6 months to 3 months or 60 days to 30 days, depending on the type of business you own. Request progress payment on large orders.

Long term financing: Taking a loan to purchase extra equipment that assist with profits such as furniture, vehicle or technology instead of using person cash or business savings isn’t always a bad idea. In doing this, you’ll possibly have enough savings that can be used later on for the business when cash flow is tight.

Encourage the use of cards: Again, this is something that depends on the nature of your business. Accepting credit and debit card payments allow you to receive next-day value for sales and services easily without having to deal with cheques and annually making deposits.

Analyse your cash flow: It’s normal and common for businesses to go through periodic highs and lows. Cash flow analysis can be used to highlight the ‘highs’ as well as the ‘lows’ that can be used in many ways to improve your business. They can be a great indicator of the effectiveness of staffing, marketing efforts and borrowings among other things.

Work with an accountant: Accountants are largely undermined these days with the introduction of software programs that claim to be just as effective as bookkeepers. However, an accountant can review cash flows of a business and provide insights into areas that programs don’t have ability to look into and considerations that you may have overlooked. Their role is to assist you in anticipating and plan for any ‘lows’ that the cash flow in your business may suffer in the future.

Having a cash flow plan: This will be really helpful so you know exactly where you are and what needs to be done to get to where you want to be.

Consult an expert tax agent when it comes to your business decisions, this ensures you keep up to date on latest changes.There are hundreds of surprising items that you can claim as a tax deduction on your tax return.With the new federal budget, there is an emphasis on supporting small businesses via tax relief however there are a lot of lesser known deductions that are not being claimed.

Protection:For those who work outdoors can claim sun protection like sunscreen, hats, sunglasses etc. Flight attendants can claim moisturiser, compression stockings. Sex workers can claim birth control as a tax deduction. Truck drivers on long haul trips can claim the cost of portable fridge to keep your meals nice and cold.

You can provide these extra benefits to your employees now and claim as a tax deduction.

As we are at the tail end of the financial year, you do need to start preparing information for the tax agent. You can do a few things to make your life easier at tax time.

List of your income and expenses.

Go through your figures to ensure they are correct.

Book a tax planning session with your accountant, not too late yet.

Supporting documents for the above such as invoices, bank statements etc.

Write off any bad debts, redundant stock.

Lodge all outstanding BAS/IAS.

Does this seem like too much to do, that is why we are here to help, call us today on 1300 300 106 to find out how our expert Cranbourne tax accountant services can help you getting organised for tax time. BookSmart Accountants provides expert Tax Agent Cranbourne services.

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When you choose BookSmart Accountants you choose personalised service that focuses on your financial wellbeing – accounting expertise to help secure your financial future for tomorrow, rather than just deal with your tax issues for today.